Lenses falling off Canon 6D

[borderjack]

I was in Chicago last fall at a nephew's wedding. I was shooting some pictures of the wedding dance when I was bumped by another guest. Next thing you know my 24-70 lens was bouncing off the floor. I know the lens was locked in as it was functioning perfectly at the time (it just auto-focused an image and was re-focusing for another when I got bumped) My hand was nowhere near the lens release button and I cannot figure out how this may have happened. Also, if it was not locked in place, my lenses do not autofocus.

I had it repaired the lens and am using it again. I had put this out of my mind until a long-time friend an professional photographer of 40 years+ called and asked about the accident I had with the lens falling off. He had thought I was crazy when I told him the story originally. He then proceeded to tell me he just had the same thing happen with his 6D and a 100mm Macro lens.

He was shooting some high school team photos when his lens came off the camera.

I am wondering how many other 6D owners have had this happen. Is there a lock issue? 

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

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@diverhank wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

"But pressing the release button alone isn't enough to make the lens come off. The lens must also be rotated counter-clockwise about 60º. "

Exactly.  Releasing a lens from a properly functioning lens mount requires a "double action" to release it.

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In my case the double action was: 1. accidentally touched the release button and 2. the bouncing rotated the lens. This was my 100-400L f/4.5-5.6 II and the tripod mount helped with the bouncing and gravity.

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Ow.  Ow.  Ouch.  I hope that lens wasn't a total loss.  Anything is possible, but "double action" means concurrent events, not sequential events.

[RobertTheFat · Accepted solution]

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@borderjack wrote:
I looked at the strap today, It is a CarrySpeed. I love way the strap allowed me to get the camera up and ready, but didn't like the way the camera flopped around as it is with most straps especially when a long lens is attached.

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Some have reported that the flopping around caused their cameras to unscrew themselves from the mount, which would be an absolute deal breaker for me.

[TTMartin · Accepted solution]

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@borderjack wrote:

Not using a Black Rapid strap. I was using a sling strap that is no longer sold in the USA and forget the name. The sling fastened to the bottom camera mount and is one of the best I have found. 

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So far it seems that straps that attach to the tripod mount seem to be a common factor with the camera and lens coming detached. This could hardly be considered a Canon design flaw as Canon doesn't design their lenses or cameras to have the straps attached that way. 

As designed by Canon the camera has strap attachment points, and lenses that are too large to hang from the camera's mount unsupported have their own strap attachment points.

As seen in this photo from the-digital-picture.com

Those that want to second guess Canon engineers and attach their straps to the tripod mount which they aren't designed for are suddenly surprised that the camera and lens don't performed as designed. 

[TTMartin · Accepted solution]

Were you using a Black Rapid Strap?

[diverhank]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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Ow.  Ow.  Ouch.  I hope that lens wasn't a total loss.  Anything is possible, but "double action" means concurrent events, not sequential events.

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Luckily I caught the lens before it hit the ground.  I was extremely lucky so no damage there. I was simply feeling sheepish after that happened because I was one of the people who thought it could never happen to me.

@TTMartin, I wasn't wearing the Black Rapid strap...it was a Optech USA sling strap...I guess when having the camera dangling, it's doubly easy to get into this situation. But I heard of instant of it happening while people were holding their cameras also...

[TTMartin]

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@diverhank wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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Ow.  Ow.  Ouch.  I hope that lens wasn't a total loss.  Anything is possible, but "double action" means concurrent events, not sequential events.

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Luckily I caught the lens before it hit the ground.  I was extremely lucky so no damage there. I was simply feeling sheepish after that happened because I was one of the people who thought it could never happen to me.

@TTMartin, I wasn't wearing the Black Rapid strap...it was a Optech USA sling strap...I guess when having the camera dangling, it's doubly easy to get into this situation. But I heard of instant of it happening while people were holding their cameras also...

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All of the lens disconnection issues I've heard of have been with straps that attach to either the tripod mount of the camera or the tripod mount of the lens.

Where was your OpTech USA strap attached?

I have mine attached to the camera strap mounting point on the camera and battery grip.

[Rileywyna]

Well, just had my new cannon 100 to 400 ii detach from my new 7d march ii . I have ptsd from this . It occurred aboot 20 feet above a cement pool deck . Some how as the lens dropped it landed in my hand .
I chalked it up to a user error - but I now know it’s occurred twice, with the same set up, with a birder in my community . Now reading these many occurances as well .
So WTH, Cannon !
Have you checked this out ?
This has never occurred in my life . I hadn’t even imagining something this ridiculous and catastrophic was possible.

[TTMartin · Accepted solution]

Were you using a Black Rapid Strap?

[wq9nsc · Accepted solution]

The locking mechanism itself is very simple as Tcampbell pointed out in a post in this thread almost a year ago.  This same basic locking pin system has been used not only for EOS lenses but countless other mechanical mounting systems for years.  There has to be a balance between ease of lens change and avoidance of accidental unlocking and for the vast majority of users Canon has hit the sweet spot in this balance.  My first EOS body was a film EOS 650 about the time the EOS line came out and I currently have 1D Mark ii and 1DX Mark ii bodies althought they are rarely both with me so I often change lenses on the fly and I wouldn't want the release to be any more difficult or awkward as it is a quick and simple act as it is currently configured.  A repair shop could fit a higher tension spring to the mechanism requiring much more force to overcome but if Canon made that as a production change I doubt if it would be popular with most users.  The current mechanism has a nicely engineered and solid feel.

These discussions bring to mind complaints on the forum of my other expensive hobby, my Corvette.  Corvette coupes have a removable "targa" roof panel that locks with a latch in the back and two in the front.  It is a very simple and secure system as long as you remember to latch them when putting the roof back into place but some owners do not and become members of the "flying roof club".  Every product has potential for issues if the owner behaves in a manner not anticipated by the designer.

 And fortunately camera lenses aren't regulated like automotive safety standards or we would end up with goofy recalls like the one I had for my Cadillac ATS where a new trim ring was required around the sunroof control buttons because they weren't sufficiently recessed to meet some obscure joint Canadian/U.S. standard.  I suppose someone could retrofit a similar trim ring to their Canon DSLR to make the release button harder to access.

[borderjack]

My 6D is no longer in my camera bag. It was sold over a year ago when I bought my first 5DM4. I loved the 5D so much that I now have two of them. I have not had a problem with the lenses coming off as I did with the 6D. I also use the Spider system on both cameras and have dual pins on each mount. This has grown to be my preferred way of shooting.

When the lens fell off the 6D I was using another sling system, no longer sold in the U.S., that may have contributed to the problem. I was not a fan of using the tripod mount for carrying my camera on a sling in the first place and was skeptical of the Spider system. After trying the Spider Pro holster I have not had a problem and my back, hips and legs thank me everytime I spend the day with two cameras hanging on my body.  

I now hear from others that the bigestproblem with the 6D is that the function dial plate falls off. Mine did too. Just use a little more that one spot of contact cement to repair.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

[Rileywyna]

Well it just occured with me too and I have found too much of this type of thing on the last two days for this only to be user error .
It occurred with my new 7dii and the new 100 to 400 ii.
Luckily I caught it as it fell off and headed for concrete 20 feet away . I mean what if this occurs up in the stands at a football game .
This is something that should have a zero probability.

I’ve been playing with my set up . The lens is not tight . There is some play in it even when locked . Something is really fishy here and it’s not acceptable for this to be occurring with an item with this level of expense and quality.

[Rileywyna]

Your reply is filled with assumptions , fallacy and bias.
Your car analogy assumes all manufacture issues are user error .

[wq9nsc]

Of course there is play in it because there has to be a little allowance for tolerance between the pin interface and the rest of the EOS lens mount.  My 1DX M2 and 1D M2 both have the same amount of play as does my original EOS film camera from 1988.  But NONE of them will release the lens without the lens release button being depressed.

If your camera will release a mounted lens without the release button being depressed then something is broken and it needs to be repaired.  But if the release button is being depressed when it shouldn't be that isn't due to a defective camera.